Some landlords may want to celebrate after the government announced this morning that it will be scraping the energy performance certificate (EPC) targets for homes.
Rishi Sunak confirmed growing rumours that the government was to 'soften' several key green policies, including minimum EPC standards for rental properties, that were to cost landlords thousands.
Previously the original proposals outlined that private rented properties would need to have an EPC rating of C or more by 2025 on new tenancies, and 2028 for existing tenancies. However, yesterday evening, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak unveiled the plan to scrap the plans – along with a ban on binning gas boilers – during a televised press conference from Downing Street.
Tenants will also be celebrating too since Mr Sunak acknowledged that the cost of carrying out EPC improvements to meet a minimum rating of C would impact the rent they would currently be paying. He said that property owners would not now be forced to make expensive upgrades in just two years’ time and the cost of energy improvements could be around £8,000. The prime minister said: “Those plans will be scrapped and while we will continue to subsidise energy efficiency, we will never force any household to do it.”
Other announcement:
Also under the revised plans, the Government will:
- Raise the Boiler Upgrade Grant by 50% to £7,500 to help households who want to replace their gas boilers with a low-carbon alternative like a heat pump.
- Delay the ban on installing oil and LPG boilers, and new coal heating, for off-gas-grid homes to 2035, instead of phasing them out from 2026. Many of these homes are not suitable for heat pumps, so this ensures homeowners are not having to spend around £10-15,000 on upgrading their homes in just three years’ time.
- Set an exemption to the phase out of fossil fuel boilers, including gas, in 2035, so that households who will most struggle to make the switch to heat pumps or other low-carbon alternatives won’t have to do so. This is expected to cover about a fifth of homes, including off-gas-grid homes - those that will need expensive retrofitting or a very large electricity connection.
- Rule out policy ideas that would require people to share cars, eat less meat and dairy, be taxed to discourage their flying, or have seven bins to hit recycling targets – removing worrying proposals that would interfere in the way people live their lives.
- Move back the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by five years, so all sales of new cars from 2035 will be zero emission. This will enable families to wait to take advantage of falling prices over the coming decade if they wish to.
Response from the sector
Those in the industry were quick to react to the latest government U-turn. Here's what they said:
Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National Residential Landlords Association, said: “The NRLA wants to see all properties as energy efficient as possible. However, the uncertainty surrounding energy efficiency policy has been hugely damaging to the supply of rented properties. Landlords are struggling to make investment decisions without a clear idea of the Government's direction of travel.”
“It is welcome that landlords will not be required to invest substantial sums of money during a cost-of-living crisis when many are themselves struggling financially. However, ministers need to use the space they are creating to develop a full plan that supports the rental market to make the energy efficiency improvements we all want to see.
However, with many landlords already committing thousands of pounds to the proposed changes and some even walking away from the sector as they could not afford the upgrades, the news would have felt like a further betrayal from a government that has long been perceived to be anti-landlord.